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In its report on the state of the economy, the Federal Reserve said that U.S. economy, though weak, was beginning to rebound.

On the same day that federal investigators released the text of several letters infected with anthrax, the U.S. Postal Services has begun a counteroffensive with quarantines, post cards and an additional $175 million for security approved by President Bush, news services reported.

The national average price for diesel fuel continued its steady decline, falling 3.5 cents per gallon to $1.318 –- its lowest price since mid-January of 2000, according to the Department of Energy.

Two Washington, D.C.-area postal workers have died of what officials are calling the second and third known fatalities from the recent anthrax mailings, the Associated Press reported.

The consumer price index, one of the most closely watched indicators of inflation, rose slightly in September, the Labor Department said Friday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress Wednesday that it is too early to tell what impact the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 will have on the U.S. economy.

Air-highway cargo carriers like United Parcel Service and FedEx could be the beneficiaries of new government regulations stemming from the national bioterrorism panic, the Wall Street Journal said.

Freightliner, the largest truck maker in North America, said Friday that it would close three plants and cut another 2,700 jobs.

Retail sales in the United States fell 2.4% in September, the largest drop in the nearly 10 years the Commerce Department has kept track of the statistic.

DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday that it was poised to present plans to restructure its heavy truck manufacturing unit, Freightliner, in the next few days.